Machine for treating grain



. 1,616,785 8 9 1927' c. c. CALKZNS MACHINE FOR TREATING GRAIN Filed Aug. 16, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet].

Feb. 8,1927. QC CI'ALKINS 1,616,783

MACHINE FOR TREATING GRAIN Fjiled Aug. 16, 1926 2 Sheets-SheetB um-1H Al Claudi 6. (Mi/72s.

ZZZ-7 I. I

Snvculoz V Patented F ch. 8, 1927.

rrso; STATES CLAUDE c; cAL 'I s, or SPOKANE, WASHINGTON. v

)MACHINE FOR TREATING GRAIN. r

- "Application filed August 15,1926. Serial No. izaeia s f My l resentqinvention l' t impi'ovements in machines for treating grain such as ,wheat, which treatment includes the application to the grainof a finelypowdered mavterial toform a casing or coating The machine is equally applicableforuse intreating other granular materials, but vas here de- I scribed and claimed is for treating seed grain, as wheat, byapplying-thereto a coating which will be instrumental lIlwWlthStiLlldling theattacks of disease, as smut, after the treated grain hasbf'een planted in the soil. V

" A dry powder' is generally used as the coat ing material and in the treatment, of'f'wheat for the prevention of smut, copper sulphate,

when used as acoating for-the seed grain has been found to; possess the "necessary characteristics for adhering to the exterior of' the grain, and such material, as is :well

known, .is efi'icacious in preventing the de elopment of smut on the seed after'zplantnecessary that the'grain and coating powder'shall be confined in the treating vessel 7 'or receptacleduring the process oftreat-1 ment', to prevent waste of the powdered sul rphate, and also for thepurposeofprevent- V I A p 7 'materials may be. transferred by, gravity' 'i v through the rotarydrum. T-he'drumis carv. 5 l c riedybyand rotates. with ja main, shaft 3 ing escape of the dust or powder to the at mosphere, which latter condition would have I a deleterious effect on the air.

-To=fulfill these conditions I I provide a sealedor closed treating apparatusutilizing a-rotary drum or vessel having, agitating 7 means thereinfor the grain andcoating material, and providedflwith charging and discharging means, which means are combined andarranged in such manner as to form closures .or seals for the drum. The invention thus consists lncertam novel features of (5011f? structlon and combinations-"anti arrange- 'ments of parts as will hereinafter be more fully set forth and claimed. I i

. lustrated one complete example of the 'In the accompanying drawings I have i1- physical embodiment of my invention where- 'in thevparts. are combined andarrangefd in r accordance with theibest mode I havethus far devised'for the practical application of, the principlesof my invention.

Figure 2 isectional-view of the machine of Figure 1,

former.

I s ,7 ,v l place'svfor'use" In the application of the powdered sulphate to, the seed grain it is desirable and Withinthe drum are '11 which are metallicblades' extending lon-l Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view hne 3 -3 ofFIgure 2 showing thepowderf.

feedingvhopper; U

y Figure 4 is an rotary drum. 7

4 enlarged vertical sectional VIEW at themlet,v or charging end ofth e Figure 5 is atransverse sectional viewof the rotary drum at line -5Y5]0f FigureV QJ y Figure 6 is" an enlarged vertical sectional view atthe outlet or discharge end of the Y rotary drum in which the seed grain and-Q copper, sulphateare mired forcoatingfthe In carrying out preferred inventlon as illustrated infthe drawings the,

which includes four handle ends Ajthat may Th' 'e-container'sin thejseedfgrain and coating material are mixed tog-ether for the apparatus isutilized as a 'portable 'powere operated machine whichmay'be driven from .any suitable source of'power, and the 'apparatus is [supported on a frame 1 be utilized for, carrying {apparatus to; v

so}; 'purpose of coating the grainwithsuch material'fcomprises a cylindrical. rotary drum; 2, preferablyof metal, which may be slight? ly inclined from its receiving end tojthe discharging endjinorder that the mixed which may be hollow as shown'and is jour- ,na led in suitable-bearings4,} The drum is provided-with an exterior sprocket wheel 5 atone end which is driven through the chain; f

6 and sprocket wheel-7, lthe latter on the driving shaft 8 that is journaledin bearings 8 in the supporting frame. Suitable power mechanism maybe used to operate the ma- 7 10 ontheshaft 8. I z v provided agitators gitudinally of the interior of-th-e .drum and attached thereto for the purpose of lifting and dropping the seed grain and coating mater-ialas t-hey pass through the drum,an d]i n thismanner the seed grain is coated with the powdered material, the latterlsticking to or adhering to thesurface 'ofthe seed grain as the materialsare commingled. Theshaft SeXtends longitudinally-through the rotary drum which is secured'theretoby means of hubs 'with-in the drum and near; its 7 ends, ,andjspolies 13'radiate from these hubs to the open rings'l l' and 14 which form heads for the drum at its respective ends, andthe flanges 15 011 theserings or heads are utilized'for securing the wall of the drum, as by rivets; with the drum, and the head 14 is utilized as the driving member for the drum, it being evidentthatthe sprocket member 5 is fashioned thereon. I 7

At the front or inlet end ofthe machine a large charging hopper 16 for seed grain i's'1ocated, whichhopper maybe coveredin usual manner and is designed to feed the seed-grain through the mouth 17130 the interior of the drum. The mouth opens through a lined, circular end plateQ18, which 'cleses the inlet end ofthe drum and about which-plate the idrum revolves or rotates with its shaft 3. To secure a-closedjoint be tween the plate and drum, the-head 14 is At the outletor discharging: end of the roe tary drum, the coated grain'passes through a ring 21 fashioned with an annular exterior flange 21:. The discharge ring which is smalL er in diameter than the drum, but complementary in size to the inner -central open ingot the open plate 14: formingthe head in the discharge end of the drum, is firmly alfix'edto and supported in a hood'22 suit 1, ably supported in the main frame 1. The

head 14 is grooved at 23 similarly to the grooved construction of the head "14, and a seal ring 24 is utilized to close the joint betwjeen thefl'ange 21 and the head 1 L;

, In combination with the feed hopper 16 Q for the seed grain I utilize a smaller hopper -25 forth'e powdere'd copper sulphate, which hopper is located in the upper portion ofthe feed'liopper andis adapted to feed the pewderedrnateri'alit'o the grain as is being ,p'asse'dfrom its hopper'to the rotary drum.

The hopper 25 is provided with a lid 26 hinged thereto .in suitable manner. and in its rounded bottom an opening or discharge mouth 27 is arranged vertically thereof. The

size of, this, opening and the discharge of powder therethr'o'u'gh is governed bya di'ts' le slide or bottom 111M628 retainedandg uidedin a. pair of opposed, grooved,

giiide'plates 28 secured at the underside of the bottom offthe hopper.- An adjusting screw. 29 is journaled in a suitable bearing and passes through a non-rotatable nut or l'ug3O depending from the slide plate'28.

I The screw bar is fashioned with a crank handle arty means or which it may be 5 turned to slidethe plateand regulate the The head'srare thus rigid size of the mouth inthe hopperiand'control' the feedxof the powdered copper sulphate to the grain asit is fed to the drum.

To prevent packingof the powder in the lower end of the hopper 25 and to insure its feed through the discharge mouth 27, I utilize a stirrer 32, which is a U-shaped yoke carried on the shaft 33 that projects through the hopper and is journaled in bearings 3 The stirrer passes'th'roughthe powdered material in the hopper, and its shaft 33 i's revolved by means of a sprocket wheel 35.,

sprocket chain 36', and sprocketwh e'el3'7', the latter on the drum-shaft The seedgravi n c as it .isrfed by gra vity to the rotating drum is supplied with powderedcopperr sulphate from the hopper 25, and' these two materials in proper; proportions; pass into the interior of the drum. The continuousrotary movement of the drum' and' the action of the agitator blades w 'th n the drum .cause a close and intimate intermi'ngling ofthe powder with the grain for coatingthe' latter, and the inclination; iven to the apparatus by a slight elevation-of the discharging end causes the material's to" gradually pass to-, ward the delivery or discharge end-of the drum. V To insure the p quantity therein rises from the bottom of the drum 'to' the level of the discharge ring 21',

and the head 14 acts as a barrier against discharge of the grain until this level is reached.

After the levelhas been reached it is maintained by a continuous feedlot the grain and powder, and-the treated grain is poured overl'the dischargering and through the outlet in thehoo'd in a comparatively thin stream 7 Two outlet or discharge spouts 38-and '39 are shown at the discharge end of the drum and connected with the 110M 22, andfrom I roperxtreatment of thegraln'lt 1's retalned'in the-drum until the these spouts the treated grain may be con ve'y'ed tothe waiting receptacles or bags. As

the grain passes out through the opening 1O at the bottom of the hood, it isdirected or deflectedto either-ofthe spouts by a gate 41', pivoted at 12 below the opening and-pro-:

vided with a handle 43 by meansrof which it is" turnedto direct the flow of the coated rain. 3

For emptying or cleaning out thedrum a trap door or slide plate 4A is provided to normally close an opening in the wall of the rotary drun'nand thisfplate'isretained and guidedin-the spaced, parallel, grooved plates 45 attached at the exterior of the drum and near one end. 'Bysliding the plate to uncover the opening provision is made for e'n'iptyil'rgthe contents on the drum through the uncovered opening;

From theabove description taken in con nection with my drawings, it will be ap parent that I, have provided-an apparatus by 3 head and overlapping the means of which the grain may be coated for the purpose desired, which. apparatus is efficient in the performance of its functions,

simple in construction and operation, and

comparatively inexpensive in cost of productlonand operation.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to'secureby Letters'Patent is' V 1. "The combination of a rotary drum have g ingtransverse.material-retaining headsat" its opposite ends and center openings therein,

a shaft and means-for fixing said heads on the shaft, a stationary circular plate located and co-act-ingin an annular groove on one of said heads and an inlet opening in said plate, and a sealingring attached to said plate and grooved head.

2. The combination of a. rotary drum having transverse material-retaining headsat its ends and center openings therein, a'driven sprocket member on one of said heads, a closure having a feed opening at one .end of said drum and .means co-acting with said closure and an adjacent head for sealing the joint between said closure and head, a dis- 1 charge hood adjacent the other. head, a discharge ring fixed to said. hood andmeans co-acting WltlLSEllCl discharge ring and head I for sealing the joint between said head and;

ring- 1 3. The combination in a grain treating machine withfeeding anddelivery devices, of a rotary drum and agitators therein, open-1 renter heads closing the endsof the drum joint between said:

and forming concentric end walls therefor, I

stationary means closing the. open-center heads of the drums, and means on the drum for sealing the joints between said heads and stationary closing means.

5. Thecombination in a graintreating 1 machine','of a rotary drum havinga shaft and open-center heads for said drum fixed to the shaft, of a closure for said open-center heads, one of'said'closures comprising a sta tionaryci'rcular plate anda" sealing ring carried by said drum-for said plate and'hea'd, the other closure including a stationary flanged ring and sealing ring carried by the drum for said latter ring and ahead.

6. The combination'in a grain treating machine, of a rotarysha'ft and 'drum, and,

open-center heads for saiddrum fixed to'jthe shaft, of closures for said heads,one of said closures comprising a stationary circular plate and a sealing ring carried-.bythe drum 1 for said plate and head, the other closure in-.

cluding a stationary flanged discharge ring p and a sealing ring carriediby the drum for said discharge ring and ahead. In testimony whereof I affix my signature- 1 vcLAUnEo. CALKINS; g p 

